Trial by Ice
by A-chana
Summary: In seven years, everything and everyone changed. Ruto was no exception to this; after all, a ten-year-old is not the same as a seventeen-year-old. Oneshot. Warnings: OoT spoilers, violence, death, and some speculation about Sages.


I'll be blunt right now: This is written in response to Ruto-bashing. If there can be a fic in which something as traumatizing as torture can be used for humorous character-bashing, and ninety percent of the responses are positive, then I believe that there is something wrong with the fandom.

That said, I've tried to lampoon revenge-fics before and the result is always far more vicious than I want, so instead I'm just settling on exploring an interpretation of her personality: she grew up a little after seven years. She still clung to the promise of marriage, but when the time came, she encouraged Link to search for another woman (granted, she might not have meant that he should pursue Zelda romantically, but the Ruto most fics portray would be screaming to the heavens about how Link was abandoning her, whether he really did love Zelda or not). I imagine that it says something about her. I guess this is the better way to respond to bashfic.

Note: This story follows the theory that the Sages had to die in order to awaken (barring one or two who seemed to have always been aware of their status). Also, if I made any spelling or major grammar or canon mistakes, I'll come back and fix it.

* * *

On her eleventh birthday, Ruto still did not care about what was going on outside the Domain.

Yeah, it was a little disturbing. The Royal Family had close ties to the Zoran monarchy, and their Princess Zelda was a little less than a year older than her. However, Ruto wasn't worried at all about the possibility that the Zoras would get involved; the castle town was so far away, separated by water and land. There was more than enough time to prepare, just in case that Gerudo man tried to enter the Domain.

Besides, even if he did break through their defenses, there was a trump card: Ruto's fiancé. Link had rescued her once, and if she was ever in danger again, he'd come to her aid.

-0-

At twelve, Ruto was starting to get bored. There were increasingly stiffer curfews put upon her as time went on. Wasn't she supposed to become _less_ restricted as she got older?

One of the guards even caught her as she was coming out of Lord Jabu-Jabu and had the nerve to snitch on her. _H__onestly!_ There hadn't been any serious danger in there since she and Link had been inside him, although the electric jellyfish and flying stingrays were still around. But, no, her father threw a fit, then went on to revoke her feeding privileges.

Ruto had taken to refusing to speak to him; she was so honored to have been able to feed Lord Jabu-Jabu, and it just wasn't fair to have that taken away from her so suddenly. Her father kept saying that it was for her own good, that it was to protect her, but what did she have to fear about their deity?

She was also not allowed to leave the inner parts of the Domain, and even crossing the waterfall to the river or going out to the lake was forbidden to her. She was stuck here with nothing to do.

Ruto wondered if twelve was too young to get married. At least then there'd be something to do.

-0-

At thirteen, she watched as a panic stirred between the servants, as they had finally realized that no one had seen the Zora's Sapphire in years. Sheepishly, she admitted that she had given it away to an outsider.

Word got out fast, and everyone at every social level disapproved. They just shook their heads and lamented that the Sapphire was ever allowed into the hands of the naive little princess, and they resigned themselves to the idea that they would never get their treasured item back. Ruto wanted to shout at them all, to proclaim that she had given it to the one who had saved her once, and that she was going to marry him when he finally returned.

However, her father's questioning killed all desire for that. He was the only other person that knew what the Zora's Sapphire meant to Ruto and her late mother, and he knew that she had gone and proposed to someone behind his back.

They finally began to speak again, but all that ever came out was shouting. There was no way that Ruto was going to tell him the identity of her groom-to-be, with how hostile he was acting at the very idea that she was engaged. He yelled at her, telling her how disappointed he was that she made such a reckless choice and gave up the Stone that her mother had entrusted to her on her deathbed. She had even admitted that it was a non-Zora she gave it to; how would she expect to continue their bloodline if she could not have children with that person?

Ruto decided then and there that she was going to protect Link, just as he had protected her, and refused to say another word about who her fiancé was. All she said was that she was going to wait for him, and she would have a grand wedding in defiance to everyone's expectations. In response, her father coldly told her that he had spoiled her too much; she was going to regret her decisions.

Where was everyone getting off, saying such things to her? One day, Link would return, and she would prove that she had chosen the right man. All this talk about heirs and Spiritual Stones and immaturity was just _stupid_. Ruto just wanted everyone to get off her back and leave her alone.

-0-

At fourteen, Ruto got her wish. As a result, she wanted nothing more than to take it all back.

Of course, it wasn't as though she was the cause of all this, but she had cursed and hated those around her not long before everything went wrong. Before she realized what was happening, everyone forgot about what she had done, instead becoming concerned with more serious matters. Everything fell apart on that day...

The Gerudo man had come to Zora's Domain, his magic dispelling the barrier that the waterfall protected. The guards had surrounded him immediately, expecting to die fighting him, but Ganondorf made no move to attack. Instead, he requested to see their king. After sending messengers back and forth, trying to figure out what to do, the soldiers reluctantly granted him audience with him, although three stayed right by him; they aimed their spears right at him, ready to strike if he tried to cause any trouble.

He didn't ask for the Sapphire, like he had done to the Gorons and their Ruby years ago. No, he wanted the support of the Zoran royalty. They had been close to the family in Hyrule, but with the king dead and the princess likely having suffered the same fate, Ganondorf was now uncontested as the ruler of Hyrule. Still, the fact that the Zoras refused to give fidelity to him had not gone unnoticed, and it was the reason for his visit.

Ruto was in the royal chambers, listening to his words along with her father. She reacted first, once Ganondorf paused to let them answer. "No! Do you really expect us to bow down to _you_, you murderous-"

"Ruto." Her father raised a hand, silencing her, although she glared at him even as he picked up where she left off. "You have killed our allies and turned their own town into a wasteland. Our loyalties are with the Royal Family of Hyrule, of course, and if our brothers and sisters came to us, we would gladly aid them. You, however, are _not_ our brother. You are an usurper, and will be treated as such in our waters."

Ganondorf's false smile turned into a bit of a frown, but he repressed most of his anger. "I assure you that this would be for your own good. The Gorons rebelled as well, just to crawl back for my aid when a dragon terrorized their homes. Why wait for a disaster here? If you pledge loyalty, I will make sure that you are not troubled by such creatures."

"Darunia of the Gorons has sent messengers," the king replied just as evenly, "claiming that the dragon only appeared right after you were already refused by them. The timing is such an odd _coincidence_, you know. Besides, their letters made a point of saying that they will not submit to you - hardly the same as 'crawling back' to you."

Ganondorf did not seem like he was going to deny this accusation. Instead, he kept pushing for an alliance of sorts. "This is my final offer to you. Allow my soldiers unlimited access to your waterways and lake, and no harm will come to your Domain."

"Zoras are proud and noble creatures. Strike us all down if you must, for we will not deal with a tyrant."

Ruto's posture had become less aggressive, and yet she was still tense. It wasn't as if she disagreed with her father. Indeed, she figured that she would have said the same thing. However, she knew that defying Ganondorf was dangerous; he wasn't dubbed the Evil King for nothing.

He just smiled once more, sincere but twisted, and Ruto shuddered involuntarily. "I see. Well, King Zora, Princess Ruto, I hope you two will enjoy yourselves here." He turned away, cape flourishing behind him. The Zoran guards escorted him out of the chambers.

Ruto bit her lip, still unsure of what was to happen. There was a knot in her stomach, as if she was now sensing a catastrophe occurring in the near future. "What are we going to do about him?"

A cold wind blew from the tunnel behind them, and her father just sighed. "We will endure."

-0-

At fifteen, Ruto wondered if a swift death was preferable to what was happening.

Not even days after Ganondorf left, it began to snow in the Zoran region; the fact that it was early summer at the time was very disconcerting. At the same time, there was a drastic drop in Lake Hylia's water level. Every week, a few more feet would be gone. Even as rain and sleet assaulted the land there, the lake continued to drain away. Investigation parties had been sent, but the only thing accomplished as that half of those sent away would die on the job. The survivors who returned said that the Water Temple was exuding an air of malice, and that monsters roamed the waters and the land, attacking anyone unfortunate enough to be in their path.

As if the corruption of their temple wasn't bad enough, the worst of it was in the heart of their kingdom. Layers of frost became layers of ice. It had been gradual at first, giving most Zoras a warning, but as soon as winter came along, the cold snap went out of control. Practically overnight, all the water stopped running, frozen right where it was. Many Zoras had been trapped underwater as a result, and the ice was too thick to penetrate from either side.

Ruto was one of those stuck there. Zoras were aquatic, but even then, uncovered water could only last them for so long before they suffocated. The fish trapped with them would only last a couple of months, so starvation was also around the corner. To complete this trifecta of suffering, the temperatures just kept dropping and dropping, and even though Zoras were built to withstand low temperatures, it was not implausible that the coldness could kill them before anything else. Already, the ones most sensitive to these changes had withered away; they weren't even able to be given a proper burial at the bottom of Lake Hylia.

There had been many attempts to escape, but the pathway to Lake Hylia had been blocked with ice. No one was even sure if the situation there would be any better. With nothing to be done, all they could do was wait for their slow demise.

Zoras were resilient, but now it seemed more like a curse than a blessing. Ruto had been taken to the very limits of her body, and she wished that it'd just break down already and let her die; it wasn't like her people weren't already perishing all around her. Instead, she was beginning to go mad, although she was just sane enough to know she was losing her grip on reality and to fear becoming completely lost. Hallucinations came to her, of her mother and father holding her, of Link taking the Sapphire, of a blue room with colorful coins circling an engraving of the Triforce, of a light shining right above the ice...

Ruto felt drawn to this light. She was sure that the Goddesses had finally arrived to welcome them all into their arms and take them away from this misery. She wanted to thank them for that, and maybe ask if they could give her something to eat. Something warm, like soup.

The light got brighter as Ruto approached, and she thought she saw a silhouette against it. Before she could think much about it, however, the ice above her shattered, and a pair of hands were thrust in. She was too stunned to immediately resist, and they grabbed her from under her arms.

As soon as she felt the hot touch of this person, she flailed and kicked. Ganondorf was back, wasn't he? What more could he do to humiliate the Zoras? She might have wanted to be freed from this pain, but she wasn't about to let _him_ have the satisfaction of killing her. She'd rather starve.

Still, Ruto was weakened by her time in the frigid waters, so she was no match against this man, who dragged her out of the water. She was blinded by both the natural and magical lights, and she felt the burn of wet skin sticking against dry ice. The white-yellow orb of light faded, but she was still unable to see through red and black spots in her blurred vision. There was a crackling noise that she could not identify.

As her sight began to return to normal, the first thing she realized is that the man was not built like Ganondorf. He was tall and lean, and although she couldn't see him well, she caught a glimpse of golden blond hair.

"Link..." she murmured, still dazed. He came back. He came back to rescue her and her people. Ruto didn't know if she was too far gone to save or not, but she was so happy to see him again after so long...

"Link?" came the muffled reply. "You knew him?"

That happiness crashed down, and Ruto's snapped to her senses. She couldn't see the man's face because of the wraps all over, but she saw those striking red eyes; Link's eyes were blue like the Sapphire.

"You... Who?" she weakly lifted her head, confused, disappointed, and still grateful nonetheless.

"Hold on, please." The man grabbed something wrapped in the same white cloth that covered him, and as soon as he started to peel it back, Ruto's stomach lurched and snarled; the scent of dried fish was inviting her. She didn't even stop to consider that it could have been poisoned. The moment it was offered to her, she snatched it away and began to devour it swiftly. Pain wracked her jaw and abdomen, but she believed that there wouldn't be any point in delaying her meal.

It was all gone in just a little over a minute, with no morsel spared. In that time, the man had moved away to a clear patch of ice. That same ball of light was in his hands, and he was focusing on something, but as far as Ruto could tell, he was accomplishing nothing. She studied his clothing, having never seen anything like it before. The tabard was the most interesting feature about him, for she did not recognize the red, eyelike symbol embroidered on it.

The light faded away, and the man slapped his bandaged hands against the sturdy ice a few times; Ruto realized that the clear patch was in the shape of a hole, as if something had been pulled out and the exit had frozen back over. "...Clever man. He made sure that any hole in the magic would be reinforced so the same trick couldn't be done twice."

"You mean Ganondorf, right?" As shaky as her voice was, Ruto couldn't hide any contempt in it.

The man looked back at her. "I apologize. I can't free any of your people, Princess."

"You know who I am, but I don't know _you_." Ruto appreciated the rescue, but still found it hard to immediately trust this person.

"My name is Sheik. I have... I've been trying to give aid to everyone affected by Ganondorf. His influence is so much more widespread than I imagined...and so much stronger."

"Sheik. You said something about Link earlier. Where is he? Is he alright?" There had not been a lot of news about the regions outside their domain. The most Ruto knew was that the Gorons were dealing with a dragon and there were refugees of the castle town in Kakariko Village. It didn't help that she had no idea where Link was from.

"He's...away. He is not in Hyrule at the moment, nor in any of the neighboring lands.

"Why not? Where is he?" It made no sense to Ruto. Was he hiding away? "He must have heard about Hyrule by now, so why hasn't he shown himself? He's supposed to be here with the Zoras, with me! Where is Link?"

"He _doesn't_ know, and even if he did, he's incapacitated. He's in no condition to help anyone right now." Sheik's tone hardened.

"Who _are_ you?" Interpreting Sheik's statements as hostile, Ruto tried to get to her feet. Her legs did not obey, though, and she felt her knees go out.

Sheik caught her as she collapsed. "Please, Ruto. I mean no harm. Link will return one day, but for now there's nothing we can do to summon him."

Ruto shivered, not wanting to talk to this person anymore, but not wanting to be left alone. "My people, my father... Everyone's hurting! Nothing's going right anymore! I... I want it all to stop! I want Ganondorf to just drop dead and never bother anyone again!"

Sheik had released his hold on her, setting her down and kneeling next to her. "...You are aware that the Water Temple has been invaded by his monsters, correct? The strongest one there is linked to the curse upon your people."

Ruto nodded. It was the duty of the Zoras, especially those of royal blood, to protect the Temple and drive off any evil forces that entered it, for all cultures near Hyrule believed that the Temples maintained balance and prosperity.

"I... I want to go there." Ruto understood what she had to do. As the heir to the throne, and as someone not restricted by the ice any longer, she was the perfect candidate to go into the Temple and find out what to do. More than that, though, she could feel that it was just the place to be; she couldn't describe the exact feeling. Ruto just wanted to go there and wait to see what happened.

"You should wait for a while," Sheik suggested. "You need to recover your strength first. If you travel as you are now, you'll just become an easy target for the beasts."

"But...if I wait, the others will...!"

The man just sighed. "...I'm sorry. But, unfortunately, there is little to be done about casualties. The Gorons are being eaten by that dragon, the Kokiri are starting to go missing in their own forest, and the only other Sheikah alive disappeared trying to protect Princess Zelda. I know what it feels to watch your people die and be unable to do anything about that. I'm sorry, Ruto. There's nothing we can do except prepare; we will have our chance to strike back at Ganondorf soon."

In spite of the cloth that muffled his voice, Ruto could hear the despair in his words; it seemed the Sheik sincerely wanted to help everyone, but knew he couldn't. She glanced at the ice, even though she could not see any Zoras through the thick sheet. It had only been a fraction of the population down there with her, but that fraction was made up of real people, all dying for nothing.

"...I think I get it, Sheik. I don't like it at all, but if there's no choice, I..." Ruto turned to look at him and saw that he was on his feet, starting to walk away. "Where are you going?"

"I can't stay in the open for very long. I suggest that you be prepared to hide too, Ruto." Sheik looked back for a moment. "Please take care."

"Wait, shouldn't we work togeth-" Ruto was cut off as Sheik pulled a nut of some kind out. Before she could recognize it as a Deku Nut, he threw it onto the ice, and the flash of light obscured her vision. Mercifully, her blindness was brief, but Sheik had vanished as soon as she regained her sight.

She never got to thank Sheik for rescuing her.

-0-

At sixteen, Ruto was almost ready to start her mission. She had spent much of her time regaining her strength so that she'd have some sort of chance in a combat situation.

She sat by her father's side, just talking for a while. It wouldn't be long before she had to begin to plan how to get to the Water Temple, and it meant that she would walk most of the way. She had never done such a thing before, having spent most of her life in her little part of Hyrule.

"It's funny, isn't it, Father? I can't even remember the last time I left our waters. I think I was just six. I played with Princess Zelda while we were at their castle."

She didn't wait for a reply, instead leaning back and staring at the walls behind her. A bit of light reflected off water that had not frozen, filling the tunnel that lead to Zora's Fountain. Lord Jabu-Jabu had died some time ago, adding yet another layer of despair to everything. On the other hand, Ruto came across a group of Zoran survivors that still lingered in the area. It seemed that most of the Zoras had left east in search of a warmer climate. Many were convinced that they could never return to their Domain, but some remained hopeful that the ice would melt one day.

"I'm going to try and get into the fields tomorrow," Ruto began. "I know you forbade me to leave this spot, after you caught me sneaking into Lord Jabu-Jabu. Sorry, but I gotta disobey you again."

She looked over at her father, who was encased in enchanted red ice. She didn't even know if he was alive anymore. King Zora still had an air of regality and pride about him, as if he had continued to defy Ganondorf even as the ice consumed him.

"I'll save you, Father," Ruto whispered, placing a hand upon the ice. "I'll save everyone, I swear. And... I'm sorry I got mad at you earlier."

She kissed the cold ice, careful not to let her lips stick to it, and after a long moment, she jumped down from the frozen throne, walking out of the room, down the stairs, and toward her destiny.

-0-

At seventeen, Ruto came face to face with her childhood once again.

"I never forgot the vows we made to each other seven years ago! You're a terrible man to have kept me waiting for these seven long years..."

Link had grown up to be so handsome. Ruto counted herself lucky to be engaged to him, and her stomach fluttered a little. She was sure now that she still had feelings for him, and serious ones at that. Link was the symbol of her dreams of a wonderful life, and she held onto those beliefs even in the worst of times.

Still, there was a time and place for everything, and now was definitely _not_ the time to talk about wedding vows.

"I'm sure you've already seen it. Zora's Domain, totally frozen! A young man named Sheik saved me from under the ice..."

"He told me about that," Link replied, still looking a little dazed. Ruto wondered what she looked like after all this time, and if he too was surprised at the changes. "I'm glad you got out of there."

"Thank you." His concern was enough to make her smile. "But my father and the other Zoras have not yet..." She looked away for a moment, thinking about her home.

"We saved the king," a high, tiny voice piped up. The blue fairy that always followed Link tugged at his blue tunic, as if it was proof of this. "But we can't break the rest of the ice. I'm sorry."

Ruto clasped her hands together; as thankful as she was that her father was alright, she wasn't content with leaving it at that. "I want to save them all! I want to save Zora's Domain! You have to help me! This is a request from me, the woman that is going to be your wife! Link, you have to help me destroy the evil monster in the Temple, okay?"

"I, um..." Link stuttered at first, taken aback by the burst of emotion, but he regained his composure fast. "You never even had to ask. I came here to do just that."

For a moment, it was like being a little girl again. Link was waltzing in out of nowhere, coming to save someone with little to no prompting.

Ruto was relieved that she had an actual fighter on her side; she had no combat skills of her own, and intended to go more for an investigative route. "Inside the Water Temple, there are three places where you can change the water level." From what she had been told, it was done for ease of travel, as both Zoras and chosen Hylians were meant to be able to access the Temple in times of crisis. "I'll lead the way. Follow me, quickly!"

She began to rise, although she looked down at Link for a second. He was trying to remove his boots, and she realized he had been wearing a pair that was adorned with dense metal. Still, she wanted to get to the engravings first so that she could show him how the water mechanisms worked, and she pressed on.

As soon as she surfaced, out of sight from Link, something reached out from the ceiling and snatched her right out of the water. A disgusting, slimy substance covered her mouth and shot down her throat, keeping her from screaming, and tentacles made of the stuff wrapped around her waist and arms, dragging her into a hole that barely fit her.

Ruto was too disoriented to figure out which way she was being taken, and just as fast as it happened, she was dropped from a tall height, tumbling through the air. She was sure that she'd be hurt from the fall, but was still struggling just to breathe, just less shout. Her fall was cushioned when she landed in a sea blue-purple goo, but she knew that it only meant that whatever was attacking her was now all around her. At least it wasn't to thick to swim in, so she had some sense of mobility.

A large tendril of slime rose up at the other end of the room, swaying and swinging about. Ruto could see a cellular object floating right in the base of it, but she was not about to swim toward it to try and attack it. Instead, she dove underwater, trying to avoid the monster and find some way to strike.

The tentacle collapsed then as the nucleus of the monster also sunk down, giving chase. The princess quietly cursed her lack of training in defense; she knew that some Zoras were capable of shielding themselves with their fins or even making electrical barriers, but no one ever told her _how_. Trust the guards, they said. They'll always fight for you, Princess. Yeah, _that_ was working out well.

Ruto was a nimble swimmer, but the pathways were narrow, with sharp corners. She had to focus hard just to be able to turn fast enough. Even worse, the monster was catching up to her, for it knew the room layout better than she did and could cut across the middle to save time. Frustrated that this was going nowhere, she began to leap in and out of the slimy water, trying to find a decent spot to land and regain her bearings. Finally, she approached the pool edge and flipped up, ready to roll onto land.

The outer wall she was about to slide into was lined with spikes.

Ruto tried to stop her momentum, bracing her body against the floor, and found some success. Still, she hit the spikes legs-first, being cut and impaled. Her wounds weren't too severe, but she knew it'd impede her movement.

She looked back to see the monster rise again, and forced herself to roll out of the way when it lashed at her; to her dismay, it was unaffected when it hit the spikes. Ruto shakily got to her feet, and limped away as fast as she could, trying to get a running jump into the water. She'd just have to figure out how to attack the core under the surface.

As soon as she jumped, she was intercepted in midair by a tentacle, diving right into it instead. Her movement slowed down drastically, and she found herself unable to breathe once more, but the core was now barely within reach. She couldn't grab it, but she was still able to claw at it with her nails and perhaps provoke it into coming closer.

It succeeded, but it didn't quite work out like she had hoped. The nucleus shot at her, hitting her hard and pinning her against a wall below the surface. Ruto had been expelled out of the thickest of the goop, though, and was able to fight back, kicking and punching at the orb. It continued to beat her against the wall in retaliation; before Ruto knew it, the impact of each blow had pushed her back up to the surface, where the slime could attack her.

The monster was not going to let her get any more chances. It picked her up and slammed her back on the dry land. Ruto was too battered at this point to get back up, and was thus unable to avoid the final attack. A tentacle engulfed her whole upper body and stayed there. Her arms were immobilized above her elbows and could do little to pull away the goo, and she couldn't find the strength to sit up, instead feeling sharp pains throughout her spine and ribs whenever she tried. The monster didn't fling her into the walls or spikes, nor did it try to break more of her bones. It just allowed her to struggle helplessly as slime crept into her throat and lungs, slowly suffocating her.

On her seventeenth birthday, Ruto was killed in order to fulfill her destiny.

-0-

When she awakened, she knew that she had changed. Voices spoke to her, feminine and divine. The Goddesses whispered their blessings and their orders, and Ruto just _knew_. She had been a Sage the whole time; although she hadn't even heard that title until now, she understood immediately what it meant.

She was in that blue chamber she saw in her visions, standing on the symbol of the Water Medallion. In the middle was Link, still soaked and covered in violet slime, but alive and looking accomplished.

"Link... I would have expected no less from the man that I chose to be my husband. Zora's Domain and its people will eventually return to their normal state." It wouldn't happen until all the evil was purged from the land and the curse upon it was dispelled after the defeat of the one who cast it, but killing Morpha was a huge first step. The lake had already recovered all of its water, and the rain had finally stopped pouring.

"As a reward, I grant my eternal love to you..." Ruto began, but she trailed off when she saw Link's expression of surprise. No, even if she really did love him - and even now, she believed that - she couldn't keep up this illusion. With the knowledge of a Sage came the knowledge of the boundaries. "...Well, that's what I want to say, but I don't think I can offer that now."

How funny. She almost made it sound like it was just a little postponement. Maybe it was harder to let go than she thought.

"I have to guard the Water Temple as the Sage of Water. And you... You're searching for Princess Zelda, right?"

Ruto saw the relief on Link's face. Did he really expect her to comment about that and accuse him of cheating on her by looking for the Hylian princess? She couldn't tell if he cared for Zelda as much as Ruto cared for him, but it didn't matter either way. Maybe as a ten-year-old, she would have raised a fit about it. However, seven long years had come and gone, and with the awakening added upon that, Ruto understood that it wouldn't work out now, if ever. Maybe in another life, without Ganondorf and without the invasion of every land, there could have been a chance...

She chuckled. "You can't hide anything from me!" Ruto continued to smile; even if they did turn out to have feelings for the same man, letting that get in the way of this counterattack against Ganondorf would be beyond petty and selfish. It would be blatantly irresponsible. "Princess Zelda... She's alive. I can sense it, so don't be discouraged."

Link returned the smile, just a little bit. "Thank you. Do you know where she is?"

Ruto shook her head. All she could figure out was that Zelda was very important, and that her survival was a sign that success was not impossible. "I can tell that nothing will stop you in your quest for justice and peace. You must take this Medallion..."

She focused her strength and memories into the light above them. Zora's Domain was not the only place suffering, and she and the other Sages were prepared to sacrifice all they could to restore prosperity to the land. Link would receive their blessings, one by one, and the pathway to the end would show itself.

A blue coin floated down to Link, who caught easily. It glowed softly, and he held it to his chest, as if he considered each and every one of them to have personal importance. Ruto could understand why; the two Sages that had awakened before her had died in the process, and they too were people close to Link. At least two more Sages remained, and she knew that they would meet similar fates.

The chamber flooded with white, and Ruto called out to Link before he vanished. "If you see Sheik...please give him my thanks, okay?"

-0-

When the Evil King was finally sealed away, there was a kingdom-wide celebration for many days and nights. During the final night, colorful lights streaked across the sky, unnoticed by most of the revelers. The king of the Zoras, along with a Kokiri boy, watched with interest as a pair of them, blue and green, took the lead.

Ruto was sad in some ways, of course. She could no longer return to her home in the Domain. Still, she had seen it restored to its former glory, and it was so much more beautiful than she had recalled. Saria even complimented the region, mentioning that she wanted to see it for herself but could never leave the forest to do so.

The two girls were becoming friends, in spite of the fact that they both cared for Link. In fact, it was _because_ of that shared interest that they were growing close. They wished that maybe things had turned out differently with them, but at the same time, they didn't curse how destiny changed everything.

The Sages reached their destination. They wanted to look out at Hyrule from the top of Death Mountain, as the sunrise illuminated the land bit by bit.

They waited until the sun had gone up high before Impa spoke. "We did great. Hyrule will know peace for generations, thanks to you all."

Nabooru grinned. "That Link did a lot of the legwork, you know. He really changed from when we first saw him."

"Everyone changed." Saria was riding on Darunia's shoulders, still looking down upon the world they had saved. "It was all for the best too, I believe."

Ruto nodded in agreement. It seemed like ages since she was a young girl, wandering Lord Jabu-Jabu's stomach as she searched for the Zora's Sapphire, instead meeting a boy in green clothes... She could scarcely believe that she had acted so rude before, but if it was destiny's plan the whole time, she wasn't sure if she minded it.

"It's time to go," Impa whispered.

The Sages vanished from the physical world, leaving behind a land ready to start anew.


End file.
